U.S. Senators Blackburn, Hagerty join Republicans to rally supporters in Memphis
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn stumps with Rep. John Gillespie, thought to be in a tight relation race, on election day, November 5, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Tennessee Lookout/Karen Pulfer Focht)
U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty arrived outside a polling place at Second Baptist Church in East Memphis Tuesday morning, greeting incumbent Tennessee House Rep. John Gillespie and a compact crowd of supporters adorned with “Gillespie” signs and “Marsha” stickers.
Blackburn emerged from their vehicle wearing a vivid yellow blazer and carrying two boxes of donuts. She handed them out while posing for pictures with supporters and their children.
For a brief 30 minutes, Blackburn, Hagerty, Gillespie, state Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, and state Rep. Ron Gant, R-Piperton, gathered to rally Tennessee Republicans to vote.
“We are all in,” Blackburn said to a video camera. “Remember, today, start at the top, vote for Trump, vote for me for U.S. Senate, come on down that ballot. You’ve got (U.S. Rep. David) Kustoff, you’ve got Gillespie, you’ve got (state Rep. Ron) Gant. Let’s win this thing.”
“Remember, Kamala broke it,” she said, with supporters joining in for the rest of the slogan: “Trump will fix it.”
Hagerty said he flew in from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania early Tuesday morning following Trump’s final rally in the battleground state. He said he’s seen a “tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm” and early voting turnout was “extremely favorable,” but it comes down to Tuesday’s results.
“I don’t just want to see President Trump win the electoral college,” Hagerty said. “I think he will, but I want to see him win the popular vote, too, and that’s where every Tennessean’s vote will matter.”
Blackburn said her campaign has been “all over the state” from Chattanooga to upper East Tennessee, the Tri Cities and Knoxville. Memphis was one of her stops working her way back to Middle Tennessee.
She rebuffed criticism that she has not been interacting with Tennessee constituents, citing her weekly newsletter, Facebook podcast and telephone town halls as efforts to “stay in touch with people.”
“I have been out every single day,” Blackburn said.
She refused to participate in public debates, she said, because her opponent, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, is a “dishonest Democrat.”
“I know that I spend plenty of time talking with people and listening to people, and that is the route we chose,” she said.
Blackburn said the race for her U.S. Senate seat in 2018 was aggressive, but this year, “people have seen what I will do, what I have done as their U.S. Senator,” listing her positions on inflation, the southern border and what she calls the “Axis of Evil” (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea).
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty with Rep. John Gillespie, a Memphis Republican, on election day, November 5, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Tennessee Lookout/Karen Pulfer Focht)
